Blue Jay

Monday, July 24, 2017

Hello dear friends. It sometimes seems that we are so busy at the farm that we dont get anything done! I am happy to share some quick photos showing some of the progress we have made this summer.

We love to spend time out of doors. When we were considering a major renovation to our old stone farmhouse we knew that we wanted to have lots of outdoor living areas. This is part of a rather extensive deck that adjoins our new kitchen.

At the time that we took these photos friends had just left after we have a lovely dinner together. This deck has 2 levels...a lower deck which connects to a small gazebo and the upper level with a seating area and a veranda which wraps around our old house.

We always find an opportunity to take a photo of various farm animals. Here is Horatio the cat.

And of course some of our sheep.

This arbour has a wonderfully rustic feel to it.

Our barbecue was relocated to our parking area while the construction was going on and has only just now moved to its' new home under our little tiki hut. We have had this barbecue for many years and it has served us (and our friends!) quite well.

The koi pond is not quite finished. It is 5 feet deep at the deepest point which allowed us to successfully keep the koi that were gifted to us last year alive. We added a selection of annual and perennial pond plants and have learned that it is not a good idea to dig up and transplant bullrushes from Lake Ophelia and add them to this pond. 😞😞😞 It turns out that we should have used a special soil mix to avoid clogging the pond filters. Unfortunately the fine silt has made the water rather murky and it has been a long process to try to filter the sediment out.

I love my little gardening shed.

A view of some of the pond plants and the waterfall. We have many projects underway at the moment including working on the waterfall garden by the dining terrace and landscaping around the gazebo. And of course we need to find time between rain to finish cutting and baling the hay. I hope that you enjoyed this quick update.

Friday, July 14, 2017

Hello dear friends, it has been a while since I have posted. We have had quite a wet summer so far which has put quite a "damper" on keeping up with the gardens! We recently had 170 mm of rain in one week with 102 mm of rain in a 24 hour period alone. The gardens have been waterlogged and the mosquitoes unbearable. On the bright side kindred gardening spirits understand these challenges and hopefully wont judge me!

Although the allium is no longer blooming I like these two shots showing visiting pollinators.

I love the electric blue of this centaurea but for all of its' weedy nature I wonder why I keep it.

About 20 years ago we constructed a stone wall to terrace our front lawn. Over the years the junipers we planted in front of it became overgrown so we chopped them out last year. This year this rugosa rose thanked us by making an appearance through the newly freed up space around an evergreen tree. We are going to have to transplant it to a more suitable location so that it can fourish.

So many years ago this borage was one of many plants I received from an elderly neighbour. It self sows quite freely and is supposed to be very beneficial for bees. What started out as one plant has turned into a large border which I havent mustered the energy to tackle. 😊

Here is a different rugosa rose which has been very happy at the farm. It is highly fragrant and spreads by sending up new shoots from underground suckers. It is not the best fit in a border but I am thinking that it might be lovely planted in swaths along the new driveway.

I have seen so many glorious photos of phlox on various blogs and have been anxious to grow some of my own. Last year this group of plants were just becoming established. This year....I find this. I noticed the same situation on a different phlox plant in a different border and I squarely place the blame on 2 rogue lambs that consistently barge through a fence to graze the lawns we refer to as "The Grove". I was able to photograph the same two criminals munching on my tulips.

My husband finished a lingering project. This arbour has been missing a roof! We are debating which vine is growing up the side of it, we previously had concord grapes growing here but had to remove them because our yellow labs were eating the grapes. Grapes can be toxic to dogs and while ours seem to have a cast iron digestive system we didnt want to take any chances! We are already far to familiar with our veterinarian!

There is nothing more comforting than a good old fashioned Adirondack chair...in my opinion!! We have gone through several of them over the years at the farm. These are plain old pine chairs that have been painted and dragged around. They spend most of the time on the veranda but in the heat of the late afternoon summer we like to move them to the lawn.

Our latest two projects include the koi pond as well as working on the extensive decking that we have on the back of our house leading the a small gazebo. Although the work is not done we have taken a few "test drives" with friends for barbecues and by all accounts it is going to be a very popular entertainment area!

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About Me

Hello! I am the proud co-owner of a 160 year old sheep farm in the rolling hills of Dufferin County. In addition to raising sheep my husband and I look after an assortment of chickens, turkeys, ducks, dogs and cats. I love animals and all things homesteading. Living on a farm is my opportunity to connect with nature, raise and enjoy good wholesome food and to practice sustainable farm practices while protecting the environment. I love gardening, reading, cooking and quilting and hope to share all of those things with you as I start my farm blog!